Encounter
by GinkoMushiMaster
Summary: After sending his son's off to school, Harry decides to take a stroll down to a near by pub, and runs into an old acquaintance.  Harry and Draco aren't exactly friends, but friendship was the closest genre of the choices.


**A/N ~ **Hey there! This Idea popped into my head after I finished Deathly Hallows (which, sadly, just happened today). I had to re-read the first six, since they had been sitting on my bookshelf for maybe two or three years. But I read Deathly Hallows and my life is now complete. This took maybe an hour or so for me to write, so I hope it's not rushed. Well, heres my little story inspired by the book's Epilogue. And no it's not a pairing story. Just a chance encounter with a bit of laying things to rest. Let me know of any errors!

It had been roughly a week since Harry sent his first letter to his sons at Hogwarts. He and Ginny had been waiting anxiously for their replies, and, eager to take a break from the anticipation, decided to take a trip to a near by pub and take his mind of things. He walked into the dimly lit pub, sighing a little at the musky smell, and strolled in.

He had just sat down at the bar when he notaced a strickingly familiar person to his left.

"Well look who it is." Harry said, not quite as light hearted as he had attempted.

Draco Malfoy looked up from his wine glass. He seemed a bit startled by Harry's presence, but quickly contorted his face back into it's usual emotionless scowl. "Potter," he muttered, taking a sip.

They didn't way much for awhile, as a slight tension formed in the air between the two. It wasn't that they were displeased of their sudden reunion. They just would have rather kept the acuainted silence they had managed the past few years. But, since they were here, they might at well have a little chat.

"What brings you here," Harry asked, taking a sip of his newly poured firewiskey.

"I hadn't had a nice glass of wine in a good long time," he replied, stairing at the drink in his hand. "Felt like having one, is all."

"I see." Harry took another sip o his firewiskey. He listened to the glanging of glasses as the bartender stacked them. This wasn't much of a conversation.

"Your boys," Draco began, clearing his throat awkwardly. "I saw them boarding the train those weeks ago. Did you...get any letters from them yet?"

Harry hesitated at the suddenness of his question. Then said, "Nothing yet. Um...what about yours? Has he told you what House he's in yet?"

"No. Hes a kind boy, more so than I was at his age, and whether or not he'll end up in Slytherin, as he hopes, remains to be seen. But, that House isn't as it once was, not quite so dark. Now it falls to the qualifications of old. Valuing ambition, cunning and resourcefulness, above other things. So We will see how things turn out."

"That sounds like the opposite of my boy," Harry laughed. It was force, but a laugh. "Al is positivly petrified of being a Slytherin. He seems to want to be a Gryffindor, like his older brother and myself."

"Does he now..."

They fell silent, suddenly losing track of their conversation.

The silence gave Harry ideas. No, ideas was the wronge word. They were more like questions. Questions portaining to past happenings, happenings particularly durring what would have been his seventh year at Hogwarts. He wasn't sure how Draco would respond to some of the things he wanted to ask, so he figured it would be better to choose just one.

"I have something to ask you, Malfoy." Harry decided to play it safe and refrain from using his first name.

Draco looked over, the wine in his glass just bairly touching his lips, and knoded, telling him to go on.

"It's about what happened back at Malfoy Manner, those years ago. Well...more of what _didn't _happen." Harry paused, taking a quick swig of the remnants of his firewisky. "Back when I had been capture, and I had been disfigured. You were given the opportunity to identify me. To have me turned in to Voldemort," Draco winced, and Harry immediatly regretted saying his name. "But...you acted like you werent sure. Like you were afraid of something. Tell me...why didn't you turn me in when you had the chance?"

The blond man beside him shifted uncomfortably and spun the wine in his glass. "That's going back a long time, Potter." he pressed the glass against his lip, but did not drink. "And those were dark times. I was still younge, and I was heavily influenced by my father's choices. He was what he was, and at a younge age, I assumed that is what I was as well, and never questioned it. I did what I was told, for fear of what punishment may come otherwise, but I was not withough concience. The three of us, my father, my mother, and I, were very close. We were all we had. So, once I became of age, and truely realised what was expected of me, though I was too proud to admit it at the time, a part of me wished that you would succeed in your efforts and free my family from the grasps of that horrid man. My subconiusness told me to lie, to pretend I wasn't sure, so that is what I did."

"So you say you wanted me to secceed," Harry spat, a bit more angrily than intended. "Well, where was that part of you when you intended on killing me? Where was that part of you when you had all of those people locked up in that basement?"

"Do not contredict me, _Potter,"_ Draco growled, setting down his glass, but not letting go. "I know where my mistakes lie, and I would prefer if you would not dig them up and shove the corpses of my faults in my face."

Harry silenced himself, gripping tightly onto his glass. He remembered his encounters with Draco after he had recieved the Dark Mark. He remembered how unstable he had become. How shaky his voice had been. And all of those faces he made when he hadn't know Harry could see. How fearful he looked as he sat beside his father durring their congregation with Voldemort. How reluctant he had seemed when asked to identify him. Draco seemed to be genuenly repenitant, well...as genuinly as he sould seem, so maybe it would be best to lay everything to rest. It had been ninteen years after all.

"I suppose I'll be leaving now," Draco sighed, buttoning his coat and setting his money down on the counter. He had gotten a few feet away before Harry called to him.

"See you around, Draco."

Draco froze, and Harry could swear he saw the slightest hint of a smirk on his face. "Farewell...Harry Potter."


End file.
